Thoughts of God's Word today...

Today I was thinking upon the words of the Master when he asked Peter, "Lovest thou me more than these?" You see, these past couple of days I have been thinking of my dreams and aspirations, letting my thoughts muster up my greatest desires of those things I could want (obviously fiting within the framework of that which is good, proper, and right). So many wonderful things of which I thought; my heart lifted and started to sing from within at the thought of possibility. Today, I was awakened with a grave, albeit not oppressive, reality as I began to consider the conflict that I often have: my will vs. the will of my Lord (ideally these would line up, but at times they don't, and therein lies the wrestling of my soul). Today, I stopped long enough to consider the gladness of my own dreams and wondered, "Do I have this much gladness about the desires of my Lord? Do I love Him MORE than these? Yes, I know I love Him...but, do I love Him MORE than these?"

Peter, when posed with this question by Jesus Christ, wasn't simply asked whether or not he loved him. (Though that is how Peter replied, "Lord, you know I love you.") No, Jesus Christ asked Peter whether he loved him MORE than these? (Referring to the fish that were caught, which signify Peter's means of making a living; this was a lifestyle he had known all his life; something he was VERY GOOD at doing.)

One must have strong hope in his eternal future to be willing to make personal sacrifices such as this, to give consideration to the Lord's desires AS one would his own. But imagine getting to the point where we would love Him MORE than our own ambitions...that would require the greatest love. I can hardly imagine this being possible except one should come to intimately know and deeply love the Master. (To paraphrase Jesus Christ, "To whom much is forgiven, the same loveth much.")

I ran across a card today with a little, yet power filled quip, and perhaps this is a great place to start: "He came to pay a debt He didn't owe because we owed a debt we couldn't pay."

Oh, that I might grow to love Him more and more!